Tell-tale signs of impending war with Iran

You know something's about to happen when the sons of world leaders start secretly meeting with US officials at the White House.

The son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is widely seen as his father's heir-apparent, met secretly last week with top White House officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Al-Jazeera reported Monday.

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Egypt did not report Gamal Mubarak's trip to Washington, and its disclosure by the Arab satellite channel came as Cairo's state-owned newspapers criticized the Bush administration for interfering in Egypt's internal affairs.

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A reporter for the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera said she saw Gamal Mubarak entering into the White House on Friday with Nabil Fahmi, Egypt's ambassador. She said both men refused to respond to her questions.

A day earlier, the State Department said it was deeply concerned about reports that Egyptian authorities arrested and repressed demonstrators protesting alleged election fraud.

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On Monday the state-owned Rose El Youssef newspaper quoted Mubarak as saying that his government is being criticized because he does not accept direction from Washington.

That is "because we don't listen (to them) and do not bow to anything which does not match with our interests" he said.

Yeah, right. That's why Egypt gets that handsome sum in USAID every year.

Since he assumed power in 1981, Mubarak had made annual trips to Washington in the spring for talks with government and congressional leaders, but he has not done so for the past two years.

Al-Jazeera said Gamal Mubarak also met during his visit to Washington last week with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Gamal Mubarak's last visit to the White House was shortly before the United States launched its 2003 war on Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein. Arab media suggested at the time that Cheney convinced him to persuade his father to mute his opposition to the war.

Me thinks the timing of this trip is no coincidence.

Coupled with the latest startling episode of kiss and makeup between the US and Libya, this makes for some pretty tell-tale signs that a new war is about to be unleashed on the world.